Promised Land: El Norte
By January 14, 2009
In the 1980s, with the wounds of the Vietnam War still fresh in the collective American . . . Read more »
Film Info
- United States, Guatemala
- 1983
- 140 minutes
- Color
- 1.78:1
- K'iche', English, Spanish
- Spine #458
Brother and sister Enrique and Rosa flee persecution at home in Guatemala and journey north, through Mexico and on to the United States, with the dream of starting a new life. It’s a story that happens every day, but until Gregory Nava’s groundbreaking El Norte (The North), the personal travails of immigrants crossing the border to America had never been shown in the movies with such urgent humanism. A work of social realism imbued with dreamlike imagery, El Norte is a lovingly rendered, heartbreaking story of hope and survival, which critic Roger Ebert called “a Grapes of Wrath for our time.”
Cast
| Arturo Xuncax | Ernesto Gómez Cruz |
| Enrique Xuncax | David Villalpando |
| Rosa Xuncax | Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez |
| Lupe Xuncax | Alicia del Lago |
| Informer | Miguel Gomez Giron |
| Foreman | Jose Martin Ruano |
| Joefita | Stella Quan |
| Pedro | Eraclio Zepeda |
Credits
| Director | Gregory Nava |
| Producer | Anna Thomas |
| Production Sound | Robert Yerington |
| Cinematography | James Glennon |
| Editing | Betsy Blankett |
| Screenplay | Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas |
| Casting | Bob Morones, Toni-Conchita Rios and Jean Gill |
| Set designer | David Wasco |
Disc Features
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised and approved by director Gregory Nava, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- New audio commentary featuring Nava
- In the Service of the Shadows: The Making of “El Norte”: a new video program featuring interviews with Nava, producer and co-writer Anna Thomas, actors Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez and David Villalpando, and set designer David Wasco
- The Journal of Diego Rodriguez Silva, Nava’s 1972 award-winning student film
- Gallery of Chiapas location-scouting photographs
- Theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by novelist Héctor Tobar and Roger Ebert’s 1983 review of the film
Cover based on a theatrical poster
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Promised Land: El Norte
By January 14, 2009
In the 1980s, with the wounds of the Vietnam War still fresh in the collective American . . . Read more »
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PRESS NOTES: THE WAY NORTH
February 04, 2009
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Film Essays
Promised Land: El Norte
By January 14, 2009
In the 1980s, with the wounds of the Vietnam War still fresh in the collective American . . . Read more »
